Zoo Lights

Every Christmas season we go to see the Denver Zoo Lights and even though we see the same thing each year (with a few new displays each time), its always one of the highlights of our Christmas season. We are a bit sneaky because we use our zoo membership to get into the zoo around 2:30 pm before the zoo lights display starts (at 4 pm) so that we don't have to pay the extra to see the zoo lights. At 2:30 pm its still light enough to see the animals but as the sun starts to set around 4 pm, the zoo lights start to come on and the whole zoo changes to a gorgeous display of animal & tree lights.

We always stop off at the restaurant for hot chocolate because its so cold that we need some time to warm up and rest our legs. We usually wear long underwear and dress up with hats, gloves and scarves and its really fun and festive.

The other stop we make is in the tropical reptile area because its heated for the tropical animals and its a great place to stop off in when the cold gets the better of you. Of course there comes the time to leave the tropical display and brave the cold again and sometimes I wonder if its worth stopping in to get warm because the cold always feels colder when we go back out into it.

There is always a stop at the zoo store on our way out and the boys love to look at the unusual toys and displays. There is usually some pleading that goes on but then we remind them that they've just opened Christmas presents so buying more toys is out of the question.

That is where the 'puppy dog' face came into being, when Jordan found a toy that he thought was cute and pulled the same face as the toy and we dubbed it 'the puppy dog face'. Now whenever the kids want something, be it a chocolate, to watch a movie, help with something or other, they pull 'the puppy dog face'. Sometimes it works but most times it doesn't. I still like to see them pull it though.